I don't think Chet Coppock has ever said anything interesting, and this doesn't change my mind. His strength as a sports personality is being the butt of jokes, although and announcing scripted sports.

The promotions being questioned here are in the tradition of Bill Veeck. The difference is that the Reinsdorf group has put together better baseball teams than Veeck ever did.

I think he made some good points. The Sox are now the 5th team in Chicago, no one cares. I've been a member of WSI since 2006 and the low interest rate here at WSI must be at an all time low.
I'm also thinking JR is getting old and has lost his zeal for running the franchise, he has been fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of the Chicago baseball fan for over 30 years and last year might have really hurt when your team could not even draw 2 million while being in first place for 100 days and the other team who was one of the worst teams in MLB out drew you by 800,000 fans.

__________________Coming up to bat for our White Sox is the Mighty Mite, Nelson Fox.

I don't think Chet Coppock has ever said anything interesting, and this doesn't change my mind. His strength as a sports personality is being the butt of jokes, although and announcing scripted sports.

The promotions being questioned here are in the tradition of Bill Veeck. The difference is that the Reinsdorf group has put together better baseball teams than Veeck ever did.

I agree. Similar to other media people both in and out of the sports world, Coppock's biggest complaint seems to be that he and his colleagues are not getting enough access (in this case, to Reinsdorf). That's a pretty poor argument, one that the fans don't care about, and gets tiresome very quickly. I don't care if the owner was a hermit who lived atop a mountain in Bhutan, as long as the team was run well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LITTLE NELL

I think he made some good points. The Sox are now the 5th team in Chicago, no one cares. I've been a member of WSI since 2006 and the low interest rate here at WSI must be at an all time low.

There are some very valid critiques to be made about how the Sox market themselves, and on a related note about the on-field product and how the organization is being run. I just don't see Coppock doing anything here but whining.

I have been wondering why Williams has been so quiet. I thought that reinsdorf put him in that position to further insulate himself from the media and make Williams the front man.

I think of that as analogous to the Bulls. Since Gar Forman was named GM, you've seen less of John Paxson in the media, as he's not the one answering the day to day questions about the team (besides the coach/manager). How the inner workings of those relationships are managed (between owner, President, GM, coach and more), I don't know. I don't think it was necessarily only about creating another buffer between owner and management, but that angle would make sense.

I think he made some good points. The Sox are now the 5th team in Chicago, no one cares. I've been a member of WSI since 2006 and the low interest rate here at WSI must be at an all time low.
I'm also thinking JR is getting old and has lost his zeal for running the franchise, he has been fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of the Chicago baseball fan for over 30 years and last year might have really hurt when your team could not even draw 2 million while being in first place for 100 days and the other team who was one of the worst teams in MLB out drew you by 800,000 fans.

Nell:

I've been around this community (WSI) since I started writing for it in 2002.

I can't recall any period where there appears to be less interest in the team than the past few years. I mean look at the post game threads for one example.

I thought maybe it was old age malaise setting in for me. Its been worse in my lifetime but I always had hope maybe because I was young and thought I had many years ahead to wait. The way things are now, I really dont see anything changing in the near future. 5-8 years seems like it will be too late for me.

I think he made some good points. The Sox are now the 5th team in Chicago, no one cares. I've been a member of WSI since 2006 and the low interest rate here at WSI must be at an all time low.
I'm also thinking JR is getting old and has lost his zeal for running the franchise, he has been fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of the Chicago baseball fan for over 30 years and last year might have really hurt when your team could not even draw 2 million while being in first place for 100 days and the other team who was one of the worst teams in MLB out drew you by 800,000 fans.

If JR was hurt or surprised at the turnout last season after several years of disappointment (capped off with the utterly disappointing and disgusting 2011) and coming off an offseason where the Sox didn't give anyone the impression they were planning to compete in 2012, then he's out of touch with reality. I'd be shocked if a smart businessman like him doesn't realize that 3 good months after 3 disappointing seasons isn't going to erase the downward trend in ticket sales.

If he really thinks the way to win over Chicago is to field a team that is good enough to be in 1st place for only part of the season only to falter (AGAIN) at the end, then maybe the Sox really do need new ownership.

It's been a losing battle for the last 30 years indeed, but JR has been the man in charge all those years and IMO he's the one responsible for losing that battle.

I'm not sure people stopped caring as much as people don't like the costs, the team and its components. I think most people I know are fed up with the dynamic tickets (they may make more $, but they are pushing people away and it shows), the premium games, the $$$ for parking, the traffic and they don't know/like many of the players. The Adam Dunn signing was awful. TDog and I took a lot of grief in the thread where he was signed. Jake Peavy has been very mediocre for the money he's received. Popular players (AJ, MB, etc) are gone. The franchise is at a crossroads. I honestly have no idea what the plan is long term. It's pretty miserable.

This doom and gloom posts are not exactly accurate. The White Sox attendance is actually up over 2012. When you stop and consider the injuries, the poor start and the TERRIBLE Spring weather we've had in Chicago, I don't think everything is as bad as people are making it out to be. Getting Danks and Beckham back and a few winning streaks will hopefully improve things on the great SouthSide of Chicago. If everything on this team starts to click the 2013 Playoffs could still be a reality. The more I'm thinking about this, the more upbeat I'm getting. This division is there for the taking. As lousy as we have played we are only 6 games behind CLEVELAND. Does anybody really think we can't catch CLEVELAND? Let's get healthy and start winning some games and hopefully go on from there.

This doom and gloom posts are not exactly accurate. The White Sox attendance is actually up over 2012. When you stop and consider the injuries, the poor start and the TERRIBLE Spring weather we've had in Chicago, I don't think everything is as bad as people are making it out to be. Getting Danks and Beckham back and a few winning streaks will hopefully improve things on the great SouthSide of Chicago. If everything on this team starts to click the 2013 Playoffs could still be a reality.

I love your optimism and I pray everything you say comes true but just as I think they have turned the corner with a 4 game winning streak, they fall flat on their behinds the last 2 games.

This doom and gloom posts are not exactly accurate. The White Sox attendance is actually up over 2012. When you stop and consider the injuries, the poor start and the TERRIBLE Spring weather we've had in Chicago, I don't think everything is as bad as people are making it out to be. Getting Danks and Beckham back and a few winning streaks will hopefully improve things on the great SouthSide of Chicago. If everything on this team starts to click the 2013 Playoffs could still be a reality. The more I'm thinking about this, the more upbeat I'm getting. This division is there for the taking. As lousy as we have played we are only 6 games behind CLEVELAND. Does anybody really think we can't catch CLEVELAND? Let's get healthy and start winning some games and hopefully go on from there.

Golden:

As someone else wrote in another thread it's not just the fact that the Sox are only six games out. That's not a big deal, that's do-able. It's the fact that there are four teams ahead of them in the division.

Because those teams play each other so often someone has to win, not all four teams are going to go in the tank.

Also the Sox second half schedule gets a hell of a lot tougher. 18 games with Detroit, games with the Yankees, and a 10 game road trip in late August / early September to Boston, the Yankees and Baltimore.

I agree with Coppock on this one. Jerry Reinsdorf has been in hiding for some time. It leaves a bad impression like he is out of touch with the day to day operations or he no longer cares. Neither case may be true, but this low a profile will lend people to reach their own conclusions.

Of course, Jerry Reinsdorf merely having a high public profile won't change everything. But I am amazed we have seen or heard so little from him. If fans who one would consider loyal don't care, the team has a problem.